Monday, October 29, 2012

Bankrupt UK denies American request to use UK bases in Nuke Standoff with Iran

Britain has rejected USZ requests to station troops at
strategic military bases, citing secret legal advice which states that
complicity in any pre-emptive strike on Iran could breach
international law.

The Guardian has learnt that USZ diplomats have been lobbying for the
use of British bases in Cyprus, and for permission to send air crews to
American bases on Ascension Island in the Atlantic and Diego Garcia in
the Indian Ocean, both of which are territories under British control.

These approaches mark the cautious beginnings of a Western military
standoff with Iran, though so far British officials have refused to
become drawn into debate. Ministers referred USZ officials to initial
drafts of legal advice prepared by the attorney general's office.

These documents, circulated throughout Downing Street, the Foreign
Office and the Ministry of Defence, provide a clear official position.
Tehran does not currently represent "a clear and present threat" and
enabling any forces to use force in the region would break
international codes of conduct.

Speaking to The Guardian, a senior Whitehall source said, "The UK would
be in breach of international law if it facilitated what amounted to a
pre-emptive strike on Iran," "It is explicit. The government has been
using this to push back against the Americans."

The UK would only become involved if full-blown conflict had clearly
already begun in the region, government officials said. This remains a
possibility, with Israeli premier Binyamin Netanyahu warning the UN
general assembly last month that Iran could be producing weapons-grade
uranium by "next spring, at most by next summer". There appears to be a
sense that a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities could delay or
prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

Government figures appear reticent to be drawn into conflict, though
the Royal Navy has a significant number of vessels located in the Gulf
as a precautionary measure, should current diplomatic channels break
down.

"It is quite likely that if the Israelis decided to attack Iran, or the
Americans felt they had to do it for the Israelis or in support of
them, the [British] would not be told beforehand," one official said to
the newspaper. "In some respects, the U.K. government would prefer it
that way." Iran denies its nuclear efforts are anything other than peaceful activities.